The Third Pillar of Islam: Charity

Charity is not just recommended by Islam, it is required of every financially stable Muslim. 

Giving charity to those who deserve it is part of Muslim character and one of the Five Pillars of Islamic practice.  Zakat is viewed as “compulsory charity”; it is an obligation for those who have received their wealth from God to respond to those members of the community in need.  Devoid of sentiments of universal love, some people know only to hoard wealth and to add to it by lending it out on interest.  Islam’s teachings are the very antithesis of this attitude.  Islam encourages the sharing of wealth with others and helps people to stand on their own and become productive members of the society.

In Arabic it is known as zakat which literally means “purification”, because zakat is considered to purify one’s heart of greed.  Love of wealth is natural and it takes firm belief in God for a person to part with some of his wealth.  Zakat must be paid on different categories of property — gold, silver, money; livestock; agricultural produce; and business commodities — and is payable each year after one year’s possession.  It requires an annual contribution of 2.5 percent of an individual’s wealth and assets.

Like prayer, which is both an individual and communal responsibility, zakat expresses a Muslim’s worship of and thanksgiving to God by supporting those in need.  In Islam, the true owner of things is not man, but God.  Acquisition of wealth for its own sake, or so that it may increase a man’s worth, is condemned.  Mere acquisition of wealth counts for nothing in the sight of God.  It does not give man any merit in this life or in the hereafter.  Islam teaches that people should acquire wealth with the intention of spending it on their own needs and the needs of others.